Tubular uncoupling device for car couplers



@June 28, 1966 w. E. HAWKINS 3,258,133 TUBULAR UNCOUPLING DEVICE FOR CAR COUPLERS Filed Sept. 13. 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR Wes/e! E. Hawkins ATTORNEY June 28, 1966 w. E. HAWKINS 3,258,133

TUBULAR UNCOUPLING DEVICE FOR CAR COUPLERS Filed Sept. 13, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Waste/E Hawkins 60 BY JW%W ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,258,133 TUBULAR UNCOUPLING DEVICE FOR CAR COUPLERS Westel E. Hawkins, Chicago, 111., assignor to Stan-ray Corporation, Chicago, L, a corporation of Delaware Filed Sept. 13, 1965, Ser. No. 486,875 6 Claims. (Cl. 213-219) This invention relates to railroad car couplers and more particularly to an operating lever for uncoupling a coupler upon counterclockwise rotation of the lever.

More and more railroad freight cars are being equipped with sliding center sill underframes with cushioning arrangement which have little or no recoil and which allow a considerable amount of travel of the sliding sill at all impact speeds, thereby to better protect the corn modities within the car. Furthermore, cars are being built with moderate, medium and extreme cushioning.

All uncoupling devices are provided at the outer end with a handle which must be maintained, according to safety rules, within twelve inches of the side of the car end. The inner end of the device is provided with a hook which engages the lock lifter of the coupler, and, upon a 90 rotation of the device, the hook lifts the lock lifter which in turn lifts the lock and uncouples the coupler.

The coupler moves in and out of the underframe and moves laterally when the car is rounding curves in the tracks. Therefore the uncoupling device must be extendable so as to move wherever the coupler takes the inner end of the device upon full draft movement of the coupler, while at the sam time maintaining the handle end within the twelve-inch limit from the car end. On the other hand the device must be contractible to about 38 to acommodate the full butt position of the coupler.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a coupler uncoupling device to meet these conditions for a coupler mounted in a sliding sill underframe with medium cushioning. This accommodates most of the cushioned underframe cars being built at the present time.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will appear in the following description thereof when considered in connection with the accompanying drawing forming part of this application and wherein like reference characters indicate lik parts.

In the drawings: I

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG. 1 looking at the end of a car;

FIG. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a section on the line 44 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 2 of a modified form of the invention; 1

FIG. 6 is a section on the line 6-6 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a section on the line 7-'7 of FIG. 5; and

FIG. 8 is a section on the line 88 of FIG. 7.

Referring-in particular to FIGS. 1-4, 10 indicates the end of a car to which the uncoupling device is mounted. The mounting for the lever comprises a bracket having a vertical plate member 12 riveted or otherwise secured to the end 10 of the car adjacent one corner thereof. Issuing outwardly from the lower edge of the plate member 12 is a horizontal somewhat triangularly shaped plate member 14, which member 14 at its outer edge is bent downwardly at an angle to the plate 12 forming a vertical member 16. To the lower margin of this plate member 16 is removably fastened a clevis 18 which with the included portion of the member 16 forms an eye having a substantially vertical axis. The uncoupling lever has a handle at the outer end and which is formed of round rod bent intermediate its ends and supported by the clevis 18. The handle part 20 extends upwardly and over the clevis 18 and is then turned laterally at at 22 and extends through a small plate 24 secured to the end of a tube 26 which is triangular in cross section. The end of the laterally extending rod portion 22 is welded or otherwise secured to the small plate member 24 which in turn is welded to the end of the triangular tube 26 effectively closing same. The axis of tube 26 is coincident with the axis of th rod portion 22 and extends inwardly toward the coupler. An-

' other tube 28 also triangular in cross section of smaller dimension telescopically extends within the tube 26. A rod 30 extends a short distance within the inner end of the tube 28 and is welded therein. This rod 30 angles inwardly under the coupler and is provided with a book 32 which engages the lock lifter 34 of the coupler 36. The tube 26 has a slot 29 formed in its lower surface extending longitudinally from a point adjacent its outer end to its inner end. The tube 28 has a short key 31 at its outer end, said key projecting through the slot and slidable therealong. A stop 33 is spot welded across the inner end of the slot to limit the separation of the two parts 28 and 26 of the device. Thus the tube 28 can be withdrawn from tube 26 when required by movement of the coupler until the key 31 engages the stop 33.

From the foregoing itis apparent that the telescoping parts can follow a coupler mounted in a sliding sill with moderate cushioning, and that in any position of the coupler, a rotation of the handle 20 will correspondingly rotate the tubes 26-28 and rod 30, thereby lifting the lock lifter and uncoupling the coupler.

Since most couplers ar now mounted in sliding center sills such as indicated at 36, the movement of the center sill in and out of the underframe plus the movement of the coupler shank 38 in and out of the sliding center sill is quite material, and therefore the telescoping parts of the uncoupling device must extend sufiiciently to .follow these movements of the coupler and compensate therefor. On the other hand in the full buff position of the coupler the telescoping parts of the uncoupling device must be contractible to approximately 38".

Tubular telescoping uncoupling levers are not new. Patent No. 2,885,095 illustrates one form of telescoping uncoupling lever but to applicants knowledge no one has utilized the advantages of the tub triangular in cross section. When the triangular sections are telescoped together, the rotating force applied thereto when the handle is rotated will be transmitted from one triangular section to the other. One advantage of th triangular form of tube over square tubes or rectangular tubes is that if a collapsing force is applied to a triangular tube, it cannot collapse without at least one side failing. This is not true in the square or rectangular tubes because if a collapsing force is applied to either of such tubes, opposite corners would act as hinges and the tub would be pressed together without any side failing. It therefore is felt that the triangular form of tube has inherent advantages of its own.

Now referring to the modification .shown in FIGS. 5-8, the handle of this modification is shown at 44 and is practically identical with that shown in the previous modification. The bracket is identical and the clevis 18 is mounted on the depending plate member 16 of the bracket and supports the handle of the device. The bandle 44 extends upwardly and around the clevis 18 and extends laterally as at 46 within a tubular member 48 a short distance and is then turned backwardly upon itself as at 50. This folded over end of the rod 46 is welded within the outer tube 48, which is of elongated rectangular cross section as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. An inner rectangular tube 52 extends within the tube 48 and a rod 54 having a hook 56 at its inner end extends within the inner end of the'inner tube 52 a short distance and is turned backwardly upon itself as at 58 and is welded to the tube 52. The hook 56 is fastened into the lock lifter 58 of the coupler. Thus when the handie 44 is rotated, similar movement will be transmitted to the tubes 48 and 52 and the rod 54 which will in turn rotate the hook 56, lifting the lock lifter 58 and uncoupling the coupler.

The bottom of the tubes 48 and 52 are provided with registering slots 60 which extend between opposite margins of each tube. These form effective drain openings whereby moisture or foreign material finding its way within the tubes will drop out due to vibration and service movements of th car.

In this modification also the outer end of the elongated rectangular tube 58 is provided with a key 62 which extends through the slot 60 and is slidable therealong. At the inner end of the outer tube 48 a stop 64 is welded across the slot to limit the relative movement of the telescoping tubes.

This arrangement of slots and stops in either modification of the invention is also advantageous when more than two telescoping parts are required so that th device may extend to a greater distance. Furthermore, should the device become seriously bent, the parts could separate and fall off the car, but with the stops this would be practically impossible.

From the foregoing it is apparent that there has been provided a new and novel telescoping uncoupling device for railroad car couplers which is relatively easy to fabricate, economical and very easy to repair in case of damage.

I claim:

1. In a railroad car or the like, having a coupler mounted in a sliding center sill with cushioning medium, an uncoupling'rod mounted at one end to the end sill of the car and connected at the opposite end to the coupler lock mechanism, said uncoupling rod consisting of a plurality of telescoping parts, each part connected to its adjacent part to allow relative coaxial longitudinal movement, and being of non-circular cross section, and provided with a longitudinal drainage slot along the lower surface of the outer of said telescoping parts.

2. The structur set forth in claim 1, and a key on the outer end of the inner part, said key projecting through said drainage slot and limiting the movement of the inner part within the outer part.

3. The structure set forth in claim 2 and a stop across the inner end of the outer part engageable by said key to prevent separation of said parts.

4. The structure set forth in claim 1, wherein each part is a hollow tube slidable within the next adjacent tube.

5. The structur set forth in claim 1, wherein each part is a hollow tube of triangular cross section.

6. The structure set forth in claim 1, wherein each part is a hollow tube of elongated rectangular cross section.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 5/1959 Burke 213-166 

1. IN A RAILROAD CAR OR THE LIKE, HAVING A COUPLER MOUNTED IN A SLIDING CENTER SILL WITH CUSHIONING MEDIUM, AN UNCOUPLING ROD MOUNTED AT ONE END TO THE END SILL OF THE CAR AND CONNECTED AT THE OPPOSITE END TO THE COUPLER LOCK MECHANISM, SAID UNCOUPLING ROD CONSISTING OF A PLURALITY OF TELESCOPING PARTS, EACH PART CONNECTED TO ITS ADJACENT PART TO ALOW RELATIVE COAXIAL LONGITUDINAL MOVEMENT, AND BEING OF NON-CIRCULAR CROSS SECTION, AND PROVIDED WITH A LONGITUDINAL DRAINAGE SLOT ALONG THE LOWER SURFACE OF THE OUTER OF SAID TELESCOPING PARTS. 